Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist in regulation and Joffrey Lupul scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Air Canada Centre on Friday night.

Lupul beat Ryan Miller with a backhander inside the left post in the second round. Buffalo’s Tyler Ennis hit the post in the second round and Zemgus Girgensons side a backhander wide of the net in the third round to give the Maple Leafs the win. It was Toronto’s fourth consecutive shootout game.

The Sabres blew an early 2-0 lead but forced overtime when Steve Ott scored off a power-play scramble with 24 seconds left in regulation.

Matt Moulson gave the Sabres 1-0 lead 7:01 into the first period. Moulson scored on a rebound after Girgensons drove to the net; his shot bounced off goaltender Jonathan Bernier to Moulson, who put the puck between his pads.

John Scott made it 2-0 by scoring his first goal in more than four years 52 seconds after Moulson’s goal. Scott, playing in his 200th career game, picked up the rebound of Matt Ellis‘ shot and beat Bernier with a snap shot for his second career goal and first since Nov. 15, 2009.

Sabres look to continue home success vs. Capitals

Big story: The Sabres, who started the season winless in nine home games, are 7-4-1 in their past 12 games at First Niagara Center, including three straight wins.

Team Scope:

Capitals: Washington salvaged the final game of a three-game homestand by beating the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday. Eric Fehr scored the the game-winning goal with 5:09 left in the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie.

“It’s always important for us to try and win in regulation. I think too often, we rely on overtime and the shootout and come playoff time, that’s not going to be there for us,” he said after the win. “We have to find ways to be a better team in the third period and close out games and win it 5-on-5.”

The Capitals have been in 14 overtime games this season with a 2-1 overtime record and an 8-3 mark in shootouts.

“It felt great. We’ve kind of toyed with between winning games in regular time or else we’ve gone to a lot of overtime and a lot of shootouts, which, we are getting our points but it’s a lot better when we finish off in regulation,” defenseman Mike Green said.

Sabres: The Sabres’ offense has improved with three or more goals in three of their past five games, and the team is 3-1-1 over that stretch. Buffalo lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night after holding a 2-0 first period lead — their first 2-0 lead of the season. Steve Ott scored with 25 seconds remaining to force overtime; Ryan Miller had 42 saves through 65 minutes.

“When you have a 2-0 lead in this League, you can’t expect to win. It’s hard work for 60 minutes no matter how much you are up,” Moulson said.

The Sabres allowed 17 shots and three second-period goals to the Maple Leafs.

“I thought we started off real well, but then the second period shows you how you get yourself into trouble if you keep turning the puck over. Close to 19 turnovers in that second period,” interim coach Ted Nolan said

Who’s hot:Nicklas Backstrom has a goal in each of his past two games for the Capitals. Troy Brouwer has registered a point in four of five games (one goal, five assists). … Moulson has three goals and three assists in six games for the Sabres. Miller has stopped 227 of 241 shots in December, good for a .942 save percentage.